Modernizing Relief Efforts

IOM is changing the face of humanitarian response.

For the Nepalese, visual analytics is the difference between
lifting them up — and helping them stand on their own.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been onsite in Nepal since the first of two earthquakes shattered the area last April. More than 8.1 million people were affected, more than half a million homes destroyed. Today, with the help of analytics, IOM is making unprecedented progress toward returning families to their homes and rebuilding the local economy.

Protecting the vulnerable

Rebuilding towns

Restoring stability

IOM’s early adoption of visual analytics has paved the way for improved global disaster response.

Analytics modernization — a continuous evolution of how to gather and analyze data — is dramatically improving the speed and efficiency of disaster response for IOM. During previous relief efforts, IOM had to rely on data buried in massive spreadsheets. Now, within minutes, SAS visualized data is helping IOM reach out and support millions of people in need around the globe every day.

Real-time information was immediately available
Staff resources had immediate access to all crisis data via their cell phones and laptops. This is especially important in the field, where life and death decisions are made.

Plans of action were identified and prioritized
Leading predictors of camp failure were quickly identified, as well as the special needs of pregnant women and children, to minimize unnecessary suffering.

Implications for the local economy were revealed
Mapping the earthquake’s diaspora, IOM saw where the male residents of towns resided, and got them home first to jumpstart rebuilding and encourage self-sufficiency.

By modernizing our approach to first response through analytics, we were able to understand what the country’s production capacities and inventories are, and work on that very complicated equation of identifying the best way to assist people without creating dependency.